White noise is so last year — pink noise is the color du jour. White noise, a broadband sound that plays all audible frequencies, is known as an “audio blanket”: The steady background noise it creates masks disruptive sounds around us, helping listeners focus or relax. But now, there’s a new color on the scene with some studies showing that it has a positive impact on concentration and sleep, the Associated Press reports.

If white noise is static, pink noise is rain. Since all audible frequencies are played at the same volume, high frequencies are also in the mix. Pink noise lowers the volume on higher -pitched frequencies, which makes its overall sound deeper, and more like the natural sound of rain, or the crashing of waves. Other sounds that favor other frequencies also exist, like brown and green noise. Brown noise is even deeper than pink, more like a rumbling, and green is somewhere between white and pink.

How does it help? Some studies have shown white and pink noise help people with ADHDfocus, noting an uptick in task performance. John Nigg, an ADHD researcher at the Oregon Health & Science University, says that the noise provides stimulation without information, which alerts the brain without distracting it.

White and pink noise can also treat your tinnitus. Exposure to white or pink noise has been used as an effective treatment for tinnitus. Scientists believe that the feedback trains your brain to ignore the high-pitched buzzing.

You can use pink noise for better sleep and a better memory. A study at Northwestern University is researching how pink noise, in short pulses, encourages the brain to produce the slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. Studies have also shown that these pulses produced some evidence of memory improvement.

You should be microdosing on color noises. While color noises have been proven to drown out distractions, you shouldn’t keep them on 24/7. They should be played at a low volume, says Nigg, and sporadically to give your ears time to rest.

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